On Leather Wings
"On Leather Wings" is the second-aired episode of , though the first to be produced. A mysterious creature is mistaken for Batman, and the police send a task force after him. Plot On July 13th, a strange half-bat/half-human creature ghosts past the Gotham Air One police blimp, breaks into the fourth floor of Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, and assaults a security guard before stealing assorted chemicals from the laboratories. This is the latest in a series of such break-ins at pharmaceutical companies. The report from the blimp and the wounded security guard lead Detective Harvey Bullock (after an unauthorized interview with the Gotham Glazer) to petition Mayor Hamilton Hill for a special task force designed to eliminate the strange "Batman" that has appeared around the city. Commissioner James Gordon objects, stating that the police are already on the case, but the mayor grants the request and D.A. Harvey Dent promises Bullock immunity. In the days following the Phoenix break-in, Bruce Wayne as Batman investigates the robberies. Gaining entrance to the crime scene by dosing the guarding police officer with knock-out gas, Batman discovers an audio tape of the creature as well as some hair samples. The police task force tries ineffectively to trap him at the crime scene but ends up merely blowing out the third floor of the building. Batman escapes with the samples, which he takes to the Bat Exhibit at the Gotham Zoo. There he meets a married couple on staff, Drs. Kirk and Francine Langstrom, and Francine's father, Dr. March. Dr. March seems quite obsessed with bats, which he insists are the only creatures able to survive the next evolutionary cataclysm, while humans aren't. As Bruce Wayne, Batman asks the zoologists to analyze the evidence from the crime scene, passing it off as a pest problem at Wayne Manor. In the Batcave, the Bat-Computer has failed to match either the sounds or the hairs with any species known to man. Dr. March calls back and gives a perfectly plausible scientific explanation: the hairs are from a common brown bat, while the sounds are actually a mixture of sounds from the bats and a nest of starlings in the chimney. The only problem is, the explanation is false, given the Bat-Computer's inability to find a match. Batman concludes that March is lying, and the zoo staff are somehow involved. Later that night, Batman enters the zoo laboratory and finds Kirk Langstrom working alone. Working from his father-in-law's theories, Kirk has created a formula that temporarily transforms him into the Man-Bat. Kirk has become addicted to the formula, to the point where he thinks of the Man-Bat as its own independent being, taking the necessary steps to continue its existence - i.e., stealing the chemicals necessary to keep making the formula. Now that he has destroyed Batman's evidence, Kirk is only one component away from a formula that will make the transformation permanent - but Batman has interrupted the process. Then Kirk does transform, and attacks. In the fight, Batman is dragged through the sky across half of Gotham. Both of them fly past Gotham Air One, allowing Gordon and Bullock were able to see that the Man-Bat and Batman were, in fact, two different people. Batman manages to subdue the Man-Bat. Taking him to the Batcave, he analyzes the chemical makeup of the formula, and is able to reverse the transformation. He then delivers an unconscious but fully-restored Kirk to his grateful wife. Continuity * Harvey Dent has a small cameo in this episode. When Bulllock, Commissioner Gordon, and Mayor Hill are talking about the use of a tactical squad, he is seen sitting in a chair and flips a coin. This subtly foreshadows his future transformation in "Two-Face". * In , Achilles Milo claims to have collected Kirk Langstrom's notes for use by the genetics division of Project Cadmus. Background Information Production Notes * Although this was technically the first episode made, the honor or introducing the series went to "The Cat and the Claw, Part I", which most likely aired first due to the success of Batman Returns. * Danny Elfman's theme from the first Batman movie is strongly used in one scene. Trivia * This episode was the first to feature Batman bleeding. Bruce Timm stated on the DVD commentary for this episode that he and Paul Dini fought with the censors to allow this shot, which was deemed inappropriate for younger viewers. Batman was, however, shown bleeding in the movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and in . * Producer Eric Radomski says in the commentary that he had a crush on Meredith MacRae, who voiced Francine Langstrom. * In the episode "Splicers," Terry McGinnis is unwillingly transformed into another Man-Bat. Will Friedle was given a tape of this episode to help him prepare for voicing the transformation. * The opening of the episode is reversed, shot for shot, in the second season finale episode "Epilogue," which was written before JLU was renewed for a third season and, as such, was expected by the producers to be the last aired episode in the DC Animated Universe continuity. Additionally, the last line spoken in "Epilogue" is a Gotham police officer in a helicopter asking, "Did you see that?", voiced by Kevin Conroy; the first line spoken in this episode is the same officer, in a helicopter, asking the same question, also voiced by Conroy. Cast Category:BTAS episodes